El dia de los muertos in the italian way
Mexican culture
Nowadays it is not hard to eat Mexican or Tex-Mex food, thanks to organizations like Fine Food Group, which has been one of the first companies that made it possible to find the specialties of this traditional cuisine in Italy as well. However, cuisine is not the only thing that we like about Mexican culture and that makes us feel like “brothers”. Some values of the Mexican tradition are in fact very similar to those of a country like Italy, where historically the people have always been bond to the land and the rural culture, especially in the south of Italy.
One of these sharedfundamental values is family. Family has to be understoodaswealth, as traditions handeddown from generation to generation, asa place where no one ever feels alone and a safe haven from the vicissitudes of life.
Celebrating the dead
El Día de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday in which the continuity of the family is celebrated. In Italy, the same celebration of the deaths takes place on the 2ndNovember. But there is an essential difference. In Mexico, el Día de los Muertos is a real party, in which one is not scared by death but has fun with it as if it was a friend,with masks and colours that has absolutely nothing mournful. In our country it is not the same, this occurrence is a very funereal day, characterized by general sadness.
This difference lies in the fact that death in Mexico is considered as a non-dramatic passage, made full of warmth and joy by the love and remembrance of the deceased’s loved ones. The feeling that holds a family together goes beyond death.
A celebrated theme
This topic is narrated by two recently released animation movies: the first one is The book of life (2014), the second one is the Disney-Pixar’s Coco (2017). Both movies are addressed to a young audienceand they aim to explain this idea of death, and consequently of existence, which is not meant as a painful transition but as a continuity of love, towards the dead and towards life itself.
Therefore, instead of spending the Day of the Dead with sadness, we invite you to spend it with joy and remembering the loved ones, both in an “Italian style” and a little bit in a “Mexican way”and maybe, why not, with some good caliente food on the table, where everyone can meet together!
